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Homesteading – Page 51 – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Category: Homesteading

  • Tips for Homesteading With Small Children

    Tips for Homesteading With Small Children

    Homesteading with babies or toddlers can certainly seem intimidating, especially if you are off-grid in any way. Having babies and toddlers is intense enough in a house in the suburbs with running water and electricity; throw limited or no electricity and low-tech plumbing and that’s definitely many parent’s nightmares.

    While homesteading with small children can certainly be challenging, it’s definitely not impossible. Just think of all the pioneers and settlers throughout the ages that have raised their families under rough conditions.

    Here are a few simple tips to make raising little ones on the homestead slightly less intimidating:

    1. Embrace the mess

    What doesn’t kill you, boosts your immune system! With little kids, mess happens. Diapers, spilled food, germ-covered objects inserted into little mouths; a great percentage of parenting in general contains a whole lot of “yuck”, and you simply have to get used to it, and trust your child’s, and your, immune system much more. And on a homestead, when you add animals into this messy equation, there are going to be messes, there are going to be germs, and you’re going to have to learn to live with it. This is not to say you shouldn’t do what you can to keep things clean, you absolutely should, it just means that you won’t be living in a germ-free, Lysol-clean environment. There will also be lots and lots of dirt. Kids will get dirty, their clothes will get dirty, you will get dirty, but you will learn to cope with it, and by the time your kids are bigger, you’ll probably be very efficient at getting stains out and keeping things sanitary!

    2. Keep them secure

    Babyproofing a homestead is no joke, but it also doesn’t have to be too complicated. Wearing babies is a great option for safe morning chores, and keeping them in only certain areas where they are easy to supervise and keep contained will reduce headaches. Toddlers, especially when mobile, are able to get into all kinds of things, and odds are, you’ll have plenty of areas with sharp tools you’d like to keep them out of, so just as you corral your animals, corral your littles!

    3. Put them to work!

    Ok, so there isn’t a lot of work that babies and toddlers can really do, but anything they can get involved with and help out with, let them! They’ll have an insatiable curiosity anyway, so you might as well put it to good use. Little ones can throw feed for animals, carry small buckets of water, ring dinner bells, maybe even pull weeds or harvest from the garden. Get them their own small tools or pails so they can feel included with what you’re doing. Besides, soon enough they’ll be able to help out with real work, might as well start them out young!

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  • DIY Budget Grow Box

    DIY Budget Grow Box

    I am personally not a fan of trying to grow plants indoors on in any other artificial and costly setup, but having a grow box doesn’t have to be expensive.  You can have a grow box that allows you to get your seeds started safely inside 6 weeks prior to the last frost in your area.  This will give you a significant jumpstart and extension on your growing season.  And this can be done for about $50 if you have purchased all the material, but you probably have most if it around your house already.

     

    Materials

    • 18-gallon plastic bin (If you have one that is larger you can use that too) $30
    • 5-inch clamp light $10
    • Aluminum foil $6
    • Duct tape $5
    • 5,000 K compact fluorescent bulb $2

    Directions

    1. Remove the lid from the plastic bin and lay the bin on its side. Place aluminum foil on the side that is down and use duct tape to hold it in place.  Turn the bin to the next side and repeat this until the inside of the bin is covered in foil, including the bottom.   The purpose for this is to reflect light back on the seedlings.
    2. Cut a 2inch square in the center of the lid to accommodate the light. Then cut a “T” shaped slit coming off one side of the square to accommodate the camp on the light.
    3. Cover the inside of the lid with aluminum foil and tape it in place just like the inside of the bin.
    4. Put the light in place and clamp it to the lid. The light should be on the inside of the lid, the square hole is only for the back of the light so that it can sit more flush with the lid.

    Tips

    1. If possible use square starting containers for you seedlings to save space.
    2. Get an aluminum baking pan to place the starts in.
    3. When you water the seedlings remove them from the grow box and pour about ½ inch of water in the baking pan instead of on the starts.

    Upgrading to an indoor/outdoor growing system doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive.  You can get started for under $50 and in less than an hour with this simple DIY grow box design.

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  • Mason Jar Aquaponics (Infographic)

    Mason Jar Aquaponics (Infographic)

    I shared an infographic recently on the benefits of aquaponics, and I came across this the other day that I thought was really neat, and super easy to create.

    It is a very simple DIY mason jar aquaponics set-up. Obviously, you’re not going to be growing tons of your own food this way, but I thought it would make a great experiment for homeschool or even for curious grownups. It could even serve simply as a very cool upgrade to an indoor decorative plant or herb garden!

    The original post on Desima.co has a photograph of one in real life, it’s pretty neat!

    masonjaraquaponicsdiy

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  • No Septic for an Off-Grid Homestead (Video)

    No Septic for an Off-Grid Homestead (Video)

    Nature happens, and off-grid homesteaders need to deal with it! If you do not have a septic for your off-grid homestead, this is a very cool, low-tech solution.

    Putting in a septic system can be incredibly pricey, and sanitary waste removal is an important aspect of healthy living. This homesteader has a great alternative if you’d like to save your money and actually reuse your “humanure” to fertilize your plants. Don’t worry, it’s not gross at all!

    The system is very simple and uses some buckets, pallets, and lots of sawdust. One nice benefit to this system is you can build your house wherever you like, as you won’t have to worry about plumbing or pipes dictating where your house will go. Check it out!

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  • Cold Frames; How and Why

    Cold Frames; How and Why

     

    Cold Frames are basically wooden boxes with no bottom and a glass top that you place on top of crops to keep them warm.  In this article, I’ll give a few tips on how to get cheap material, maximize the benefits through design, and explain why you should use cold frames if you live in a zone that has harsh winters.

     

    • The windows are the part of the cold frame that can make construction costly. If you were to purchase them new the cost would likely outweigh the potential gains.  You can however, get lucky if you keep your eye out at stores like Home Depot for windows that have been damaged and are being sold cheap.  If you or someone you know is remodeling their home you can get windows for free there, if you drive past a house being remodeled you can stop and ask permission to check the dumpster.  If you have a habitat for humanity restore shop in your area you might find cheap windows there as well.
    • The frame should be made to fit the window so that the window can simply sit on top of it, hinged if possible so that you can easily open it to harvest and to check on your crops.
    • Since a cold frame works by magnifying the sun’s light with the glass to increase the heat inside the box, you want to maximize the amount of sunlight that gets inside. To do this want to have your glass tilt down on the side that will be toward the sun.  For this reason, you will want to have the back side a few inches higher.  If you use a 2×8” on the back and a 2×6” on the front this should be enough of a tilt, if you need more after you have constructed it you can always mound some earth up on the back side to raise it a little.
    • With a cold frame, you will not only be able to extend your growing season for your warm weather crops, but you can also grow perineal crops all through the winter in some cases, and you will be able to begin growing and harvesting much earlier in the spring.
    • Remember that cold frames are “solar powered” and will not work in areas that are shaded during the winter.

    Gardening doesn’t have to be a seasonal activity if you have the right equipment.  As you add layers of protection to your garden you add time to your growing season and volume to your harvests.

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  • Crops I Don’t Recommend and Why

    Crops I Don’t Recommend and Why

    I’m sure that I will get people who disagree, but that’s why the article is titled “crops I don’t recommend” instead of “crops you shouldn’t grow”.  Everyone has access to different resources and has different levels of experience and time they are willing and able to put into their garden.  If you have a lot of money, and a lot of time, and you don’t mind putting a lot of work into growing a certain crop because you enjoy the satisfaction of overcoming the inherent difficulties in doing so, then great, grow whatever crops you want to.  But for the rest of us, these are a few crops that I, personally, would recommend that you don’t waste your time with.

     

    Asparagus

    Don’t get me wrong, I love asparagus, and I know that it is difficult and expensive to get tasty young asparagus in the store.  But I personally take a utilitarian approach to gardening and if I can get similar nutrition from a crop that is easier to grow, then I will.  Asparagus takes years to produce, requires a lot of space once it does, and will eat more fertilizer than green I have ever grown.   If you aren’t going to be deterred by my warnings then at least do yourself a favor and buy asparagus roots and not seeds, you will never get anything from the seeds.

    Strawberries

    The low sprawling nature of strawberries make them difficult to mulch.  Any crop that is difficult to mulch is also going to be difficult to water and to keep weeded.  Add to these difficulties the fact that mice and rats love to beat me to my strawberries and I give up.  From my experience you need to grow strawberries in a raised bed with store bought top soil, water them on a timer, and cover them with wire to protect them from pests.  That is too much work for so little reward.

    Head Lettuce

    I have nothing against head lettuce varieties, but I have never experienced the same level of success that I have with leaf lettuces.  I always end up having some level of rot of pest damage in a head lettuce, and even if it is minimal, some of the lettuce ends up in the compost anyway because I didn’t eat it fast enough.  On the other hand, leaf lettuce is much less likely to rot or be bothered by pests, and I can harvest as much or as little as I need for each meal, so it is as fresh as ever each time I eat it.

     

    If you have had success with these crops, then continue growing them.  But if you haven’t tried them yet and are considering growing them this season, you have been warned.

     

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  • How to Make Homemade Almond Extract

    How to Make Homemade Almond Extract

    I love DIY everything, and extracts are surprisingly easy. At the store, extracts for baking and flavoring foods can be surprisingly expensive, especially if you’d like organic or natural extracts of any kind. Almond extract is great to have for baking of all kind as the subtly sweet flavor of almonds makes for delicious cakes and cookies.

    The process for making your own is very simple. Since it only requires 15 raw almonds, it shouldn’t be too expensive to make this organic and natural, with some decent-quality vodka as well. You could make this large batch and put into smaller bottles for gifts or even to add to your farmer’s market stand if you have one.

    Ingredients 

    15 raw almonds

    2 cups of 80 proof vodka

    1 pint sized mason jar

    Jar or bottle for long term storage

    Directions to make one pint of Homemade Almond Extract

    1. First, blanch your almonds, if you don’t already have them blanched. Boil one pot of water and put your 15 almonds for 1 minute-be precise, set a timer. When the minute is up, drain quickly and run under cold water. Lay out on a tea towel to cool. The skin should look shriveled, and once they’re cooled you should be able to easily remove the skin from all the almonds.
    2. Roughly chop the blanched almonds and put them in your pint jar.
    3. Pour the vodka over the chopped almonds and secure the lid.
    4. Shake vigorously and place in a cool, dark place.
    5. Let sit for at least 6 weeks, or more if you’d like a bolder flavor. As it sits, make sure to shake every other day or so.
    6. Once the desired sitting time is up,  you can strain through a cheesecloth or coffee filter and pour into the bottle you’d like to use for storage. You can reuse the mason jar, or pour into smaller amber bottles for gifts or even sale.

    Enjoy!

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  • Shooting at Homestead Shooting Range in Kananaskis (Video)

    Shooting at Homestead Shooting Range in Kananaskis (Video)

    I’d love to have a homestead shooting range one day! I loved watching this short video from Kananaskis, Alberta in Canada of a short tour of a wintery homestead shooting range. One of the great things about an outdoor range like this is how much the noise echos and dissipates, which is a great improvement from indoor ranges. It’s really cool to hear the noise of his gunshots in the cold, wintery air.

    Of course, the other great advantage of a homestead range is distance. And as you can see from this video, he’s able to cover quite a bit of distance on his homestead range. Enjoy!

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